Land of Enchantment (10 page)

Nothing in the house remotely resembled the bright and cheery apartment complete with all the modem conveniences that Diana had lived in these last few years. She tried hard not to let her dislike of the bare and drab house show. After all, it was Lije's home, and his running commentary revealed the warm and loving memories he associated with it. It wasn't his fault that he didn't see it with a stranger's eyes. Diana was the first one to agree that beautiful furnishings did not make a house into a home.

'I know you'll want to unpack and prowl around the house on your own,' said Lije, leading her again into the kitchen.

'Yes, I'd like that,' Diana agreed quietly. She walked to the window over the sink and gazed out. From there she could barely make out the figure of Jim Two Pony working in the shadow of one of the buildings. 'Why didn't you ever mention that Jim was an Indian?'

She heard his footsteps bringing him closer to her. 'I thought I had. Does it make any difference?'

There was something very cold about his question. Diana turned around, staring up into the suddenly remote expression. She knew immediately that she had said the wrong thing.

'No, not at all.' She looked back at the window, her fingers clenching the cold porcelain sink. 'I just never knew any Indians before. He startled me.' She laughed a nervous tight laugh. Was she prejudiced because Jim Two Pony was an Indian? She didn't think so. Yet why had she assumed that Lije would throw him off the property? 'I felt awkward and uneasy.'

'Jim is a full-blooded Navajo. They're a very proud race. A stranger often receives the impression that he's being regarded with a bit of superiority by a Navajo,' Lije explained. 'They have a heart just like you and me, and they feel things just as intensely as we do. They just don't show it as readily.'

'The Navajos were a peaceful tribe, weren't they?'

'In some ways. But I think it was more a case of being realistic. The white man seemed to be without numbers. Fighting would have been futile if they wanted to preserve their race, so the Navajo chose to adapt before their tribe was reduced to the point that it would die. Don't let that mislead you into thinking they were not strong and powerful. The Apache, who were notorious warriors, raided other Indian tribes as well as white settlements, but they usually avoided attacking the Navajo. They knew the Navajo's retribution would be swift and sure.'

'You admire them, don't you?' Diana asked. Her back was still to him so he couldn't see her expression filled with love for this compassionate, understanding man she had married.

'Yes,' Lije said simply. 'Jim is my friend, the closest thing to a brother I'll ever have. I can't expect you to feel the same way I do towards him. But don't stereotype him as a worthless bum and look down on him as an object of pity.'

'I don't!' Diana whirled around sharply, stung by the cold, contemptuous anger in his voice. The beginnings of retaliatory anger rose in her only to be restrained quickly. 'Oh, darling, maybe at first I thought of him that way. But it was only from ignorance and never being exposed to Indians before. I honestly hold nothing against Jim. Wherever you are, I will be, and your friends are mine. Don't let's quarrel the first day in our new home.'

He studied her quietly for a minute before he drew her into his arms and held her close against his chest. 'Forgive me, Diana,' he murmured into her hair. 'It's just that I've seen the contempt that comes into some people's eyes when they see an Indian. I should have realized that you were too sensitive to be blinded by a man's race.'

'I'm human.' Diana tilted her head back to gaze up at him. 'Perhaps I was blinded for a moment, but only for a moment.'

Lije gave her a long, slow kiss that left her clinging to him weakly. 'I'll stay here all day if you keep reacting like that,' he teased.

She snuggled under his chin, enjoying the feeling of his warm body next to hers and the wayward movements of his hands on her body.

'Promises, promises, that's all I ever get,' she murmured, smiling up at the passionate gleam in his eyes.

'You just keep that thought in mind.' Lije touched the tip of her nose. 'And we'll find out how true that is tonight. Right now, Jim is probably wondering where I am.'

'He probably knows,' Diana laughed, moving out of her husband's arms. 'Now run along, so your poor little wife can get something down.'

'I have a half a mind to stay and teach you who gives the orders around here.' He reached over and swung her playfully back into his arms. 'But I'll save that for tonight, too.'

'Mmmm, I have a lot to look forward to tonight,' she murmured against his lips.

'You make it very hard for a man to leave.' This time it was Lije who set her away from him, then walked to the door.

'In case you get tied up with Jim all afternoon, what time is dinner?' Diana asked as he started out the door.

'With all the work I have to do tonight, you'd better make it early, around six,' he answered with a decided twinkle in his eye.

'Yes, Mr. Masters.' Diana dropped him a little curtsy to accompany her demure words. Lije was smiling as he walked out the door.

Unpacking didn't take long since most of her things were still in Dallas. Diana had written to Stella to send them on. Yet there had been something pleasant and intimate about rearranging the clothes in the chest of drawers to make room for hers. The act of putting her husband's clothes away made their marriage seem more real and not something that had happened in a dream. When she could find nothing else to do in the bedroom, she reluctantly went to the kitchen.

No matter how drab and dreary it looked, it was her kitchen now. She was in charge of the meals and the dishes and everything else. The sooner she became familiar with the location of things, the sooner it, too, would seem as if it belonged to her. Looking around at its worn furnishings, Diana realized that the only thing that would improve the kitchen's appearance was a complete remodelling. The money from Lije's rodeo winnings and the sale of the blood bay horse would certainly never stretch to cover such a luxury. She would just have to suffer with it the way it was.

Dinner was on the stove when Lije came in a little before six o'clock. Diana was setting the table with the ironstone plates from the cupboard. Lije planted a kiss on her cheek, then started into the other room to wash up.

'You only need two place settings,' he said.

'Isn't Jim eating with us?' Diana held the third plate in her hand.

'Not tonight.' Lije's voice carried from the small hallway. 'I think he figured we would want to be alone.'

'Is that what he said?' she asked.

'Not in so many words.'

Unbidden the thought sprung to mind that maybe Jim just didn't want to eat dinner with her, but she quickly banished it. Lije was undoubtedly right, and Jim was just trying to be thoughtful. Still, Diana had received the distinct impression that Jim didn't like her. It was a feeling that wasn't easy to shake. And despite Lije's earlier assumption that it had to do with the difference of their skin, Diana thought it was a case of individual likes and dislikes.

The first meal she had ever cooked for Lije was an unqualified success. He laughingly confided afterwards that he hadn't had the nerve to inquire about her cooking abilities.

'Well, for having such doubts about your wife,' Diana said with mock anger, 'you can help with the dishes!'

It was an idyllic evening, just the way Diana had always pictured it to be. Later, after Lije had good-naturedly helped with the dishes, they had gone into the living room where Lije built a fire in the darkened fireplace. The cheep flames had brought an added spark into the room, chasing away some of its gloom. They had sat on the camel-backed brown tweed sofa comfortably wrapped in each other's arms. From some distant place in the outdoors, a howling sound penetrated the walls of the house. Its wailing sound made Diana shudder and curl tighter against the broad chest.

'What was that? A wolf?' she asked, glancing at the windows that only reflected the light from the room. 'Coyotes
,'
Lije answered grimly.

'They aren't dangerous, are they?' she breathed more confidently.

'They aren't unless you're a sheep or a lamb.' Lije moved restlessly, finally rising to poke the fire again. 'Are you worried about your flocks?'

'Yes,' Lije sighed heavily. 'We've lost more lambs than I'd like to count to coyotes.'

'Who takes care of your sheep?'

'I have a sheep-herder and his dogs with each flock. They travel around in a wagon quite similar in appearance in some ways to the Conestoga wagons that brought the settlers West.'

'Don't they protect the sheep from the coyotes?'

Another yelping howl drifted eerily into the room, answered by an echoing call. It was another vivid reminder that Diana's alien world was just outside, regardless of how content she had been in his arms.

'They do the best they can, but coyotes are very bold. Mountain lions flee to the mountains and the more remote regions when man moves on to the land. The coyote doesn't have that fear of man. He treats us with healthy respect, but he keeps hanging around and becoming more of a menace than a nuisance. Especially to ranchers.' Lije turned away from the fire to smile at Diana. 'Now how did we get on this subject?'

'The coyotes were howling outside.'

Lije walked back to the couch. 'It's time we forgot about what's outside,' he said huskily, bending over Diana and propelling her back against the cushions.

Chapter Seven

DIANA felt Lije nuzzling her ear and she turned sleepily over for his kiss. Bright sunlight tried hard to penetrate her dosed eyelids. His mouth was warm and moist against hers.

'Good morning, sleeping beauty,' he whispered. 'It's time to get up.'

Diana moaned, slowly blinking her eyes while she focused on the man sitting beside her. He was wearing a plaid shirt of yellow and dark blue with a pair of worn levis. Then she noticed the cup of coffee in his hand.

'I brought you some coffee,' he said, handing it to her as she plumped the pillow behind her and pulled herself into a sitting position.

'You're already dressed,' she murmured. 'What time is it?'

'Nearly seven. I've already been up for a couple of hours, but I thought I'd let you sleep this morning,' Lije smiled.

'You shouldn't have done that. Let me get up and fix your breakfast.' She took a quick sip of her coffee as she started to pull back the bedcovers.

'Too late—I've already eaten. But I left the dishes in the sink for you.' He kissed her again and let his mouth trail along her neck.

'Thanks a lot,' she gasped as his caress raised havoc with her heartbeat.

'I'll be out with the horses this morning, but this afternoon we're going into town to pick up supplies. Make a list of the things you'll need.' After bringing her hands to his mouth, Lije rose from the bed.

After finishing the luncheon dishes, Diana and Lije left for town. He dropped her off at the grocery store with the daunting reminder to buy enough to last two weeks when they would make another trip into town. For Diana that was a tall order, since she had no idea what her husband's likes and dislikes were and only a rough idea of his appetite. About Jim Two Pony she knew nothing.

Lije had told her where he would be parking his truck and that when she was done he would meet her at a local restaurant. He was sitting at a table when she walked in. Rising, he held out the adjoining chair for her.

'Are you all done?' he asked, signalling the waitress for a cup of coffee for Diana.

'I hope so,' Diana sighed, shrugging off her parka. 'I've got that terrible feeling that I've forgotten something important.'

The restaurant door opened and a young girl in pigtails walked in, slender and boyishly attractive in tight blue levis and denim parka. Something in her naturally buoyant movement attracted Diana's attention. The girl's bright questioning eyes roamed over the room, coming to light on their table.

'Lije? Lije Masters!' The girl hurried gaily towards them, cowboy boots clicking loudly on the floor. 'You're supposed to be in Houston! What are you doing here?'

As the girl reached their table, Lije rose to his feet and the girl threw her arms around his neck and kissed him soundly on the cheek. Diana watched in stunned silence. The girl had taken no appreciable notice of her.

'What are you doing here, Patty?' calmly removing her hands from around his neck and offering her a chair at their table.

'Libby was a little off colour when the tour started. I came back to pick him up for the Houston rodeo.' Pert brown eyes turned on Diana. 'Hi, I'm Patty King.'

'This is my wife, Diana,' Lije inserted before Diana had a chance to reply. 'Patty is a trick rider in the rodeo. And Libby is one of her horses.'

'Your wife?' Diana noticed the flicker of pain show just for a moment in the brown eyes before it was quickly concealed. A provocatively playful look was darted at Lije. 'I let you out of my sight for two weeks and you get yourself married!' Patty declared, turning to Diana with an impish smile on her face. 'You just can't trust a man for a moment! But anyway, congratulations to both of you.'